Growing Poverty In Madison - Part I

Last week Mike Ivey of The Capital Times reported Poor flock to city of Madison, not the 'burbs'

(nationally)....The number of poor grew by 25 percent in suburbs from 2000 to 2008-almost five times the growth rate in primary cities-making the suburbs home to the largest and fastest growing poor population in the country.

But the Madison metropolitan area bucked the trend. The poverty rate showed a significant increase in the city and no change in the suburbs over this time period.

The Brookings Institute report "The Suburbanization of Poverty: Trends in Metropolitan America, 2000 to 2008" only goes back to 2000, but this is a trend that began in the early 1980's, as poorer urban families searched for better homes, first in small to medium size cities like Madison, Albany and Harrisburg, PA, as well as the suburbs. The Promised Land, published in 1992, tells the story of black migration in America since the 1940's.

Their goal was not much different than that of their fellow middle and upper income migrants - seeking neighborhoods with employment, good schools and safe streets.

With this pattern of migration came problems. Many communities were unprepared for the increase in poverty. Housing designed for young 27 year old professionals could not accommodate the needs of low income families with children. School systems with limited budgets were challenged to educate kids with little or no pre-school guidance. Housing, counseling, and family enhancement programs were short staffed and underfunded.

Frankly, when you look at the challenge, it is surprising that Madison has done as well as it has. TThe challenge is that political ideology, ignorance, and funding issues all contribute to the problem:

• Liberals refuse to acknowledge that gangsters, extortionists, and drug dealers follow the impoverished families to Madison and a law enforcement response is required.
• Conservatives refuse to acknowledge that law enforcement is just one tool in combating crime and that without programming that empowers families, crime will prevail no matter how many police officers are sent to a neighborhood.
• Housing advocates refuse to acknowledge that no one is helped by continually adding to the supply of more low income housing if employment, child care, transportation, health care, and family enhancement programs are not developed at a comparable rate as the housing stock.
• The employment, child care, transportation, health care, and family enhancement programs are not effective if understaffed, poorly funded and uncoordinated.
• No matter how sincere the commitment, none of this works without government revenues and private sector participation. That means a tax base of businesses, particularly office buildings and retail, must be continually developed to provide the resources to fund effective programming.

Comments

[antpoppa]

We should not make society a struggle but to make society a preconceived plan and move on to the next social evolution.

Good points all Paul.
But these bullets can be used not only in Madison, but for the whole state.
The creation of a 'Figting'Movement addressing poverty and incorporating a planned response to the economy’s tossing of increasing numbers of citizens into poverty and destroying the environment, while only benefiting an elite few, is/was the Wisconsin idea. The City of Milwaukee embarked on this strategy during its’ Socialistic period, and acted as a lightning rod for social change across Wisconsin and the nation.
But what leaders will step forward to challenge the isolation and accompanying sense of hopelessness and demoralization of the capitalistic rule with an uneducated middle class that points with pride to entanglements; voicing statements that they like corporations because they depend on them for retirement benefits?

[Brian (neaguy)]

Business used to pay what, around 50% of the property tax in the 1950s and it's down to about what, 15%?

Yet they want us to train their workers in public schools?

And then when all these unprepared/no future kids come into the schools they put too many in a classroom (read Garrett Delavan's new book, The Teacher's Attention in which he persuasively argues for class sizes of 12). And when you can't devote the proper time and attention to these kids it is improperly reflected in the only measure they credit in the corporate media, corporate created standardized test scores (probably the most uninformative measure ever invented).

What a neat system of exploitation; each year extracting more profit from the population, leaving more and more hopeless and blaming those stuck working in the system for the problems created by a lack of democracy and transparency.

[anon]

First question: How much housing is designed for 27-year-old professionals? (Manhattan doesn't count.)
Second question: What would happen if America started getting over the home ownership/suburbia obsession. Home ownership can be a pain and a drain. More options, people, more options. Mixed neighborhoods (I'm talking structures, here). Townhouses, duplexes. Nothing wrong with renting sometimes. Nothing wrong with owning a good condo instead of a house in the city when there's only one of you.

[R.J.]

Don't worry, when they get their bearings they'll find the 'burbs.

[lukas]

Liberals refuse to acknowledge that gangsters, extortionists, and drug dealers follow the impoverished families to Madison and a law enforcement response is required.

Please give me one example of a liberal saying we don't need police. And if you can find one, I don't think you'll be able to show me a mainstream example. That's a very radical view. And I don't think any housing advocate would deny the importance of employment either.

If this is just a rhetorical device to say no side is perfect, well you could have done that in less words. And maybe then laid out your plan instead - which I am very curious to hear.

[Judy Karofsky]

"Housing advocates refuse to acknowledge that no one is helped by continually adding to the supply of more low income housing if employment, child care, transportation, health care, and family enhancement programs are not developed at a comparable rate as the housing stock."

Hey, easy on the housing advocates! Many understand that housing has to be housing+services, and housing where there's public transportation, and housing where there are JOBS (not Steve). The Dane County Affordable Housing Trust Fund Subcommittee met for 2 yrs and finally hit the bureaucratic/financial wall . . . but the advocates understand.

[Melody Hanson]

I hesitate to comment but have to ask, what's your answer? So easy to criticize "everyone." What is the answer?

[Paul]

Melody - use the search engine and enter in 'education' and'poverty.' You will find over 50 posts and over 20,000 words devouted to combatting poverty ranging from specific economic proposals on gangs to public education.